Taking Back Love
by KarissaEB
Summary: I'm BACK! With a full-length fic this time! ^_^ I don't know if this deserves the R rating... some parts probably do, but it's nothing bad, promise. Taiora, with a bit of Takari splashed in for fun ^_~. I don't want to do a full summary, or I'll give
1. Full Of Surprises

Taking Back Love

Taking Back Love

by Kari

_A/N: Hey everybody! I'M BAAAAAAAAACK! Again, and this time with more than a poem! ^_^ This is my newest Taiora, with a bit of Takari splashed in for fun (hehe). I worked hard on this to get it out, and I'm posting all three chapters and the epilogue at once so you have cliffhangers but you don't have to wait. ^_^ Anyway, I hope you guys likes! Uhm... let's see... disclaimer? I don't own Digimon. Just this story. Take it and feel my wrath. ^_^ j/k. Dedications? First to Sora (first known to me as Amber... hey bud!)... this is partly her story. The cute little hose incident (which you'll see right as soon as you start to read ^_^) and the part at the end of chapter three (minus some stuff I added in, hehe) happened to her and her best friend Patrick recently... after her birthday party, to be specific. As I said, the two of them scream Taiora!!! ^_^ Told you I was gonna write a story about ya girl, and here it is!!! Hope you like it! Also... to everyone that stuck with me through this time of... uh, trouble. ^_~ You want to know what happened? Email me and I'll probably fill ya in. Actually, I will fill you in. But you have to email me, b/c if you don't want to know, I'm not going to bore you by posting it on here. I'm probably boring you now, so I'll shut it! Hope you all like! R&R, all that, no flames please... constructive criticism is graciously accepted. ^_^ But flames really tick me off. (Really... read my little message to them that was part of a review I was writing Logan on __Faded Scars__. It's pretty funny!) Anyway, that's all... there's another author's note at the end, as always, so read on and enjoy! ^_^_

_Kari :)  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Chapter 1:   
Full Of Surprises

~^_^~

"So how exactly am I supposed to do this again?" Taichi Kamiya asked, holding a slowly flowing garden hose in his outstretched hands, looking at it in wonder.

It was a warm spring day... the sun was shining brightly and pleasantly warmed all its rays touched. Birds were singing, tending to their newly hatched babies or eggs about ready to hatch. Wildflowers spring up everywhere you looked, and the grass was a picturesque green. Trees were full with new growth. Tai Kamiya and Sora Takenouchi were working in the garden in Sora's backyard. Her backyard was large now... where once she had lived in a small apartment with her mother and father (when he was home) above their struggling flower shop, she now lived in a home with her family out in the country just outside of Tokyo. She still attended school with Tai and the others, but she had to drive herself. Often she bumped a ride with Tai. 

The backyard was a field on a hill... her home was at the top of the hill and as you went towards the small forest behind her house, the ground sloped gently down. Tai was tending to some small shrubs near the top of the hill, and Sora was on bended knee working with one of her flower beds. She looked up from the flowers at Tai's question and grinned, raising an eyebrow. 

"It's not that hard Tai, just water the shrubs with the hose..." She turned her head to look at Tai, who was holding the hose over one spot and wasn't moving it at all. "No, not like that!" she said exasperatedly. Sora got up from her knees, brushed them off, and walked over to Tai. She placed her hands on his and guided them back and forth randomly over the shrubs. She concentrated so hard on the poor plants that she didn't notice the large blush appearing on Tai's cheeks. Sora grinned as an idea popped in her head. She was bent over slightly, and Tai was still standing straight up. 

"Tai, look down here," she said quietly, bending closer to the flowers. She made it sound like she had seen something amazing. Tai bent down so his face was mere centimeters from Sora's and turned his head to look at hers. 

"What is it, Sora?" he asked quietly. She turned her head to look back at him and smiled seductively. As she leaned forward, she discreetly moved her thumb over the opening of the hose. All at once, she pressed her thumb on the opening so the water sprayed full force... straight at Taichi. When the cold water hit him, he drew back in surprise and sputtered a bit. Sora laughe dand releeased the hose. Tai stood a few feet from Sora, his hair, face, and upper torso completely drenched. Tai looked in shock at Sora's grinning face and got a mischievous grin on his face as well. 

"Just for that, Sora Takenouchi," he began. Sora raised a haughty eyebrow at Tai as he edged towards her. 

"What're you gonna do?" she taunted. Tai winked at her, the cute lopsided grin still plastered on his face. 

"This!" he yelled, lunging for her. She screamed playfully and tried to dodge him, but he grabbed her around the waist and spun her off her feet. They laughed heartily as Tai held Sora to him, getting her wet as well. 

"No, Tai!" Sora laughed as Tai hugged her tightly, spraying her with water from his short brown hair. Tai pulled away a bit and looked at her... her shirt was a bit damp in places, and her hair clung together in damp tendrils... but that was it.

"Hmm... not quite wet enough," he said with a twinkle in his eye. Sora's smile immediately disappeared. 

"Don't you _dare_, Tai!" she warned, trying to twist out of Tai's arms. His hold on her was firm, so she couldn't get away. Sora laughed as she struggled against his grip. 

"Come on Sor, it's just a little water!" Tai laughed, bending down with Sora in his arms. He picked up the hose, which was still on as it had been before, and pulled it towards Sora. "Let's see if I water the flower right this time," Tai joked, holding the squirming Sora around the waist with one arm and the hose with the other. He ignored Sora's playful screams for mercy and held the hose above her head. He waved it back and forth above her as she had shown him with the shrubs, making sure he got every bit of her soaked. 

"Tai, stop!" Sora laughed. She finally managed to squirm out of Tai's grasp and stood before him, dripping wet. She glared at him as she tried to wring her clothes dry. Tai just laughed at her. 

"Did I water the flower right?" 

Sora grinned. "That's how you'd do it, but I'm no flower," she said with mock annoyance. Tai smiled at her.

"Sure you're a flower. You're a beautiful white rose, just begging me for water..." he said, exaggerating the tone of his voice. Sora giggled. 

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment," she laughed.

"You should, it was meant that way."

Sora smiled at Tai and he grinned back. She went to go turn off the hose and Tai followed her, rolling up the hose as he went. He put the hose on its hook above the spigot once he had wrapped the entire thing. He then turned to go back to the shrubs, but Sora suddenly tackled him. "You're mine, Taichi Kamiya!!" she shouted, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind and knocking him down. 

"Sora!" Tai laughed, twisting around in Sora's arms so that he faced her and she was on top of him. He rolled so that they were both on their sides, wrapped his arms around Sora, and held her close. 

"Now you're as wet as I am," Sora laughed through gasps for breath, a triumphant grin on her face. 

"Whatever," Tai laughed. They laid there together for several moments on the grass on the hill, waiting for the warm spring sun to dry them. Sora sighed in complete content. 

"I could stay like this all day," she said happily as she stretched within Tai's arms. 

"Mmhmm," Tai mumbled lazily in agreement. He put one hand behind his head and the other around Sora. She laid her head on his shoulder and gazed up at the clouds. 

"Remember when we were kids and we'd try to see the shapes the clouds made?" she asked him absentmindedly.

"Dog," Tai replied.

"Huh?"

"That's a dog," Tai repeated, pointing at a passing cloud. Sora smiled and chuckled a bit, squinting at the cloud Tai had just pointed out.

"It looks more like that mop you used to call hair, Tai," Sora muttered with a grin. Tai laughed.

"Whatever you say, Ai-chan." They remained silent for several minutes. It was a comfortable, lazy silence... both were content in listening to the songs of the birds ringing in the distance, the wind blowing softly through the trees, every breath of the other... Sora snuggled closer to Tai and he tenderly stroked her drying red hair. She purred in content and closed her eyes. 

"Tai, just to let you know... I'm gonna take a little nap now." Tai laughed quietly.

"Go ahead Sora, I don't plan on going anywhere for awhile." 

"Wake me up in ten minutes, okay?" Sora said with a yawn, and with that she dozed off. Tai smiled at her.

"I will if I don't fall asleep too," he whispered. Tai gently kissed her forehead and she smiled in her sleep. Tai loved when she did that. Ever since the two were three they had known each other inside and out. However, despite what everyone said and thought, the two weren't dating. Tai and Sora shared the deepest of connections... for years they had finished each other's sentences, and finally the time came where all they had to do was look deep into each other's eyes to tell what the other was going to say. They had had several long conversations that way... no verbal words were exchanged, but every single word was heard. 

Tai and Sora were never hesitant in being intimate with each other. During the "cootie" stage of their lives, the only person of the opposite sex Tai or Sora would even associate with was each other. They hugged and held hands, and Tai was known to surprise Sora often with a small peck on the cheek. When they were beginning to come out of the "cootie" stage, they experimented with kissing on each other. Every time they heard of new things, they'd try it out on each other to see if they "liked it or not". Once they had heard that babies didn't come from some cabbage patch or a big ugly bird, they immediately decided not to try out sex on each other... their religious upbringings had given them such morals that they both wanted to wait until they were married. They had even promised each other that they would wait.

The fact that the two were so intimate with each other often kept them both single. When they were thirteen or so, Yamato, or Matt, Ishida had taken a strong liking to Sora, and dated her for a few months. He didn't understand Tai and Sora's relationship... Sora always chose Tai over him. She was still as intimate with Tai as she had been before, and it infuriated Matt to the point of violence. As soon as Matt confronted Tai about his relationship with Sora, she broke it off. She had told Matt (or rather, yelled at him) that Tai was like the twin brother she never had and she wasn't about to give him up for Matt or put Matt before him. A mumbled comment about incest from Matt's lips bought him a nice black eye from Sora for about a week and a half. 

The incident with Matt made both Tai and Sora realize that their relationship was stronger than anything and would last forever, so neither really bothered with boyfriends or girlfriends. 

Now Tai was 18 and Sora was 17, both were seniors in high school, and were graduating very soon. Tai gazed at Sora sleeping in his arms and thought about what they would do for college. Both of them wanted to stay in the country, and both even considered the university that Sora's father taught at. That was their best bet for going to the same place. After college...

Tai had always wanted to marry Sora. That was his only real secret kept from her. They had brought it up before, but not seriously. Tai had even gone as far to save up enough money to buy a very beautiful engagement ring for her their previous school year.

******************** "So why are we here again?" Sora asked Tai as they walked into the uptown jewelry store.

"Well, I wanted to look for a tennis bracelet for my mom for Christmas."

"It's only April, Tai," Sora grinned. Tai laughed a bit.

"With the money I make, it'll take me that long to save up the money for it."

"......Good point."

"And since we'll be seniors next year, I wanted to see about class rings," Tai added. He first browsed through the display of tennis bracelets, with Sora occasionally commenting on ones she thought Tai's mother might like. After several minutes of bracelets, they both decided to look at class rings. On the way, they passed a display of wedding and engagement rings. One of the engagement rings caught Sora's eye. 

"God Tai, look at that one!" she breathed, pointing at the one she liked. Her reaction to the ring surprised Tai... being more of a tomboy, Sora never really had that kind of reaction towards jewelry... or anything else, for that matter. However, when he laid eyes on the ring, Tai had to remind his jaw to stay in place. The ring was made of pure silver with a simple yet beautifully cut diamond in the center. On each side of the diamond was two small oval-shaped rubies, which Tai thought were the exact color of Sora's crimson eyes. The ring wasn't as delicate or intricate and definitely not as large as some of the others, but to Tai and Sora, it was definitely the most beautiful. 

"I don't think that'll pass for a class ring, Ai-chan," Tai joked quietly. It didn't take long for a playful punch to hit Tai's shoulder. As Sora gazed longingly at the ring, Tai watched her expression. Her whole face was lit up with delight... she was beautiful. 

"Tai, you remember this ring... tell whoever wants to propose to me someday to get me this one," Sora told him, jokingly, but Tai could hear the excitement in her voice. 

_Note to self,_ Tai thought, taking one last look at the ring before moving on, _Self, get that ring for Sora... no matter what the cost.****************************_

Now he laid on the grass with her, running his fingers through her soft, now dry hair. He wondered when he'd be able to give the ring to Sora... soon, he hoped. Sora suddenly stirred in her sleep and adjusted so that she held to Tai as a child clutches to his or her teddy bear during the night. Tai snapped out of his thoughts and gazed lovingly at Sora. He suddenly remembered that she had asked him to wake her up in 10 minutes. He glanced at his watch... it had been 15. Tai started to sit up to wake her, but he saw how peaceful and happy she looked in his arms... 

"I'll let you sleep a little longer," he whispered to her. He kissed the top of her head and she sighted, unconsciously tightening her hold on Tai. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, kissed her once more, and dozed off.

~^_^~

4 hours later, Sora was the first to awaken. The sun was behind her now, and glowing an evening reddish-orange. She looked at Tai, who was still sleeping, his strong, handsome features illuminated and further bronzed by the setting sun. She smiled, propping herself up on one elbow. She bent down close to Tai's face and kissed the tip of his nose. It scrunched up a bit, but Tai didn't wake up. She stifled a giggle and kissed his eyelid. Tai had the same reaction to this kiss as the last one. Sora grinned devilishly as she reached for his upper thigh - the only place he was ticklish. She ran her fingernail lightly across it, then grabbed it and started to tickle him. Tai immediately woke up, laughing and grabbing for Sora's hand. 

"No Sora... hahaha! Stop, stop!" Tai laughed as he tried to stop Sora from tickling him. He finally grabbed her hand, but she resumed tickling with the other. Tai and Sora laughed hysterically as he tried to stop her. He finally grabbed Sora's other hand and held tightly to the both of them. "What was that for?" Tai asked, still chuckling. 

"For not waking me up like I asked you to," Sora laughed. Tai propped himself up on his elbows and got an innocent look on his face. 

"But you looked so cute when you were asleep," he protested childishly. Sora drew dangerously close to Tai's face.

"So you're saying I'm not cute when I'm awake?" she asked in mock anger. Tai grinned and leaned forward a little. 

"Yes."

Sora dropped her jaw indignantly and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Tai continued. "You're beautiful when you're awake." Sora smiled sweetly at Tai and leaned even closer to him.

"Good save." 

Tai grinned and winked at Sora. "I know. I saw it in a movie once." Sora laughed and stood up, pushing Tai away. Tai shrugged as he got up and followed Sora into her house. "What? What did I say?" he questioned. Sora turned to face Tai and waited for him to catch up with her. He rushed up to her and swept her off her feet, cradling her in his arms. Sora laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling. 

"Tai, what are you doing!?" she laughed as he bounced her up and down as he walked. Tai grinned as he carried her inside her house. A waft of delicious smells filled his nose as soon as he had stepped inside the door. Sora's mother was fixing dinner in the kitchen, which was separated from the living room by a wall with a large opening in it so that you could see in the other room. 

"I'm carrying you over the threshold," he told her overdramatically. Sora giggled.

"We're not married yet, Taichi." 

_Yet...!_

"Yet, huh," he repeated with a smile as he set her down on the living room couch. 

"I'm home!" a voice called from the front door. Sora's face lit up with delight. 

"Dad!" She bolted up from the couch and rushed to the front door. Tai followed at a slower pace. As he reached the door, Mr. Takenouchi had already embraced Sora's mother and now had Sora in a tight, cheerful hug. He soon released her and turned to Tai. 

"So how's my future son-in-law?"

"Daddy," Sora giggled. Tai blushed as he heartily shook Mr. Takenouchi's hand. 

"I'm doing great sir," he replied with a grin. Mr. Takenouchi suddenly pulled Tai into a fatherly embrace.

"C'mere boy, you make me feel like an old geezer when you shake my hand." Tai and Sora laughed. 

"You ARE an old geezer, Alan," Mrs. Takenouchi teased as she walked back into the kitchen to resume cooking dinner.

"You're the same age as I am, honey!" Mr. Takenouchi called to her as he hung his jacket on the coat rack near the door.

"Yes, but at least I don't _look_ my age!" Mrs. Takenouchi shot back playfully. Mr. Takenouchi laughed heartily and then turned to Tai. 

"You staying for dinner, son?" Mr. Takenouchi asked him. Tai looked to Sora, who smiled and nodded. 

"Sure! Lord knows Mrs. Takenouchi cooks WAY better than my mom," Tai grinned. Mr. Takenouchi laughed. 

"I know, I know." He started walking towards the kitchen to help his wife finish preparing their meal. "Diana, make enough for four, Tai's staying for dinner!" he said loudly so Mrs. Takenouchi could hear him.

"I figured that when I saw those two sleeping outside," Mrs. Takenouchi replied. Mr. Takenouchi stopped in his tracks and wheeled around to face Tai and Sora. He grinned, raising an eyebrow slyly in their direction. Tai and Sora hadn't heard Mrs. Takenouchi's reply to her husband and looked at him questioningly. Mr. Takenouchi turned back chuckling and went into the kitchen. Tai and Sora sat on the couch together to watch TV after Tai had called his mother to tell her he was staying at Sora's for dinner. Mrs. Kamiya had said that was fine because Kari had invited T.K. over for dinner at their house (not to worry, T.K. and Kari were cooking.)

A few minutes later, Tai and Sora were called into the dining room. They set the small rectangular table and sat across from each other. Sora's parents sat on either end of the table after setting the food on it. After everyone was served and a small blessing was said, Sora asked her father how the classes at the university were that day.

"They were great," Mr. Takenouchi replied after swallowing a mouthful of rice, "and Jim says hi to both of you. He even remembered your birthday, Sor." 

"When's that?" Tai asked. Sora's jaw dropped and she gaped at him.

"You actually forgot? After all these years you act..."

"No, I'm kidding Sora, of course I know it's tomorrow." Tai shoveled some fried rice in his mouth. "In fact, I'm taking you out tomorrow." Sora smiled in delight.

"Cool! Where're you taking me?" Tai grinned secretively and bumped his foot against Sora's under the table, causing her to blush a bit. 

"It's a secret, but I'll give you a hint..." Tai leaned forward a bit and propped his chin on his hands as Sora looked at him curiously. "Wear a nice dress."

"How nice?"

"Semi-formal."

"Sounds fancy, Taichi," Mrs. Takenouchi said, sounding impressed. Tai nodded.

"I've been saving up for it for five months." Sora looked at Tai in total shock. Sora's parents also looked equally surprised. "Well, actually, I saved up for her present for a year and a half... the five months' worth of savings is for the place I'm taking Sora," Tai added.

"Wow!" Mr. Takenouchi exclaimed. Sora happily looked to Tai.

"I can't wait!" she squealed excitedly. Mr. Takenouchi laughed.

"As long as it's not my money you're using!"

~^_^~

Tai rang the doorbell at 5:30 PM at Sora's front door. He was dressed in a cerulean blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of black slacks. He had his black dress jacket in his car just in case it got chilly when the sun went down. He nervously flexed his fingers... Tai had decided to give Sora the ring and propose after dinner that night. So it wouldn't show in his pocket, he had taken the ring out of its box and wrapped it in a small red silk cloth. He just hoped Sora would accept it. 

Suddenly, the door opened and Mr. Takenouchi appeared behind it. "Taichi! Come on in son, Sora's almost ready," he greeted. Tai smiled warmly and stepped inside. Mrs. Takenouchi was in the living room watering some of her indoor plants and flowers. 

"Tai, you look very handsome," she commented when she saw him. Tai grinned bashfully.

"Thanks, Mrs. Takenouchi," he replied. 

"Tai, what time are you planning on bringing Sora home?" Mr. Takenouchi asked. Tai felt the butterflies in his stomach go crazy. He didn't know why he was so nervous... he never had been before around Sora's family. 

"Uh... when would you like her home?" Tai asked. Mr. Takenouchi smiled. 

"Well, I trust you both completely, so by 2:30 in the morning would be fine," he answered finally. Tai smiled and nodded in recognition. 

"I'm ready to go," Sora finally announced as she walked into the living room. Tai turned to look at her and his jaw dropped. She was wearing a no-sleeved blue dress the exact same color as Tai's shirt that was form fitting in the upper body and flowed loosely to her ankles. There was a slit on one side of the skirt that went up to her mid-thigh. Sora's just-past-shoulder-length hair was piled high on the top of her head and tiny ringlets hung down around her face. She wore a simple yet elegant and beautiful amount of makeup that further accentuated her natural beauty. 

"I'm not overdressed, am?" she asked, smiling shyly at Tai. Tai somehow managed to shut his mouth and smiled. 

"Of course not, just right for this place." Mr. and Mrs. Takenouchi showed Tai and Sora to the door. 

"You guys have a good time now," Sora's father called to them as they got in Tai's car. 

"Don't worry Dad, I always have a good time with Tai," Sora called back to him. Tai smiled and waved goodbye to Sora's parents as he got in the car. They waved back as Tai stared the car and drove off with Sora. They looked after their daughter and her best friend and smiled. 

"It's so obvious," Mr. Takenouchi commented. 

"What, that they're in love?" Mrs. Takenouchi asked.

"No," Mr. Takenouchi said sarcastically. Mrs. Takenouchi laughed at her husband and together they went back into the house.

~^_^~

Tai drove the car into the city of Tokyo and proceeded towards downtown. He remained silent, thinking of how he would propse to Sora... or when... or... well, the whole deal just made him nervous. Sora noticed that he hadn't said but three words to her since they had left and looked at him. "Tai?"

"Yeah Sor?"

"What's wrong?" Tai looked to her and then quickly back to the road.

"Nothing," he lied, "why do you ask?"

"You haven't said a word to me for ten minutes," Sora said in a matter-of-fact tone. Tai smiled nervously. 

"Uh, I'm trying to remember exactly how to get to where I'm taking you." Sora smiled excitedly.

"Just where _are_ you taking me?" she asked.

"You'll see," Tai grinned.

"How far is it from here?"

"About 5 minutes."

Sora looked out of the car window at the cars, buildings, and people rushing by. They were now driving through downtown Tokyo, weaving through surprisingly light traffic. "Okay Sora, close your eyes," Tai said suddenly.

"Why?"

"Because we're almost there and I want to see the look on your face when you see where we're going," Tai told her. Sora grinned and covered her eyes with her hands. She soon felt Tai slow and park the car. "Don't open them yet," he told her quickly. 

"I'm not!" she laughed. Tai grabbed his jacket from the backseat and got out of the car. He went around to the passenger side of the car and helped Sora out of it, draping his jacket over her shoulders. "Can I look now?" she asked anxiously. 

"Not yet," he grinned. They walked a little ways until Sora no longer felt the chilly night air. She heard the clanking of silverware and people laughing and talking. She also heard music playing the background. Delicious smells wafted through the air... Sora sniffed hungrily at them and smiled brightly. 

"You took me to a restaurant, Tai!" she squealed happily. 

"Reservations for Kamiya," Tai told the hostess. he turned to Sora, whose eyes were still shut. "Yep! But that's not all... keep your eyes closed, Sora." Tai led Sora through the restaurant, faintly blushing under the eyes of curious customers. Tai suddenly stopped and took hold of Sora's wrists. He leaned close to Sora's ear and whispered to her, his lips brushing against her skin, "Happy birthday, Ai-chan." He pulled Sora's hands away from her eyes and she opened them slowly to see a large table beautifully decorated... and all the rest of the Digidestined standing behind it.

"SURPRISE!!!" they yelled simultaneously. Sora's mouth opened in happy shock. 

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. She turned to Tai and looked at him with happy tears gathering in her eyes. "You... did this?" she asked him. Tai smiled sweetly and gently kissed her cheek. 

"Yeah, I did."

"Surprising, isn't it?" Matt joked. Tai shot him a mock glare before turning back to Sora.

"Do you like it?" he asked her. Sora threw her arms around Tai's neck and kissed his cheek happily. 

"I love it, Tai! This is the best birthday I've ever had!" Tai hugged her back in happy satisfaction. 

_And it can only get better, _he thought, his mind drifting back to the ring in his pocket. He released her and she turned back to the other Digidestined. In turn, each told Sora "Happy Birthday" and gave her their gift. After Sora had opened all her gifts (minus one from Tai), they all sat down to a delicious, elegant dinner. After they had finished, the entire staff of the restaurant gathered around Sora. 

"Oh good Lord..." she laughed, bringing her hands to her face. Tai put an arm aroun dher shoulder and laughed with her as the waiters sang (off-key...) their own rendition of "Happy Birthday". After they had finished, the entirety of the restaurant cheered and clapped for a few moments, soon returning to their own meals. Dessert arrived, free for the group because of Sora's birthday, and each destinied ate theirs quickly, except for Tai and Sora. Joe was the first to stand after they had all finished. 

"Well Sora, we all need to get going, but you two stay here and have a good time... get Tai's money's worth out of this place!" The other Digidestined nodded and stood in agreement. Each said their goodnight's to Sora and Tai.

"Thanks for coming you guys, it was a great surprise!" she told them. They left and Tai and Sora were moved to a table for two at around 9:00. 

"Tai?" Sora asked, picking at her piece of cake.

"Yeah?" he replied with a mouthful of his.

"Why didn't I get anything from you?" Tai swallowed before answering. 

"You got this dinner and surprise." 

"Yeah, but you said you had saved up for a year and a half for my real present."

Tai's heart stopped. He certainly hadn't forgotten about the ring, but he had halfway hoped that Sora had. He took a deep breath and prepared to reach into his pocket. "Well... I-" Tai was interrupted by a young man, looking around 23, coming up to him and Sora. 

"Hey babe, wanna dance?" he asked Sora. His speech was slurred... his breath reeked of alcohol. He wasn't bad looking, but Sora was very turned off by men who drank. 

"Uh, no thanks," she answered, leaning away from him a bit. 

"Oh c'mon babe, you know you want to..."

Tai grew angered and rose from his chair. "Hey, she said no," he told the man firmly. The man looked up to Tai and smirked.

"Just cuz your girlfriend here doesn't know she wants me so bad..." The man took hold of Sora's arm and roughly tried to pull her up from her chair. 

"Hey, let go of me!" she said loudly, trying to twist out of the man's grip. The man just laughed in her face. Tai went over to the man and pushed him a bit. 

"She said let go, jerk," he growled. The man stumbled a bit from the shove, but recovered, slowly from being drunk. 

"What, you wanna make sumthin of it? C'mon, let's take this outside!" The man continued ranting somewhat incoherently in a very moronic-sounding voice. Tai stood before him, his arms crossed casually in front of him, a small grin on his face. 

"Shutup, you're making an ass of yourself," he said quietly. The man ceased movement for a moment. 

"You callin me an ass?" 

Tai chuckled as the man swung widely for Tai's jaw. He easily dodged the swing and punched the man squarely in the jaw. The man fell backwards and the restaurant grew silent. All eyes were on the scene. The man grabbed his jaw and rubbed it. He spit a mixture of saliva and blood on the floor, completely disgusting every person in the restaurant. 

"I'll get you later," the man hissed, his speech even more slurred than before, and staggered out of the restaurant. Everyone there looked at Tai for a moment... a few claps arose from the silence, and then eventually everyone returned to their meals. Sora looked down at the table with a scowl on her face as Tai sat down next to her again.

"I can't believe that jerk did that... ugh..." she growled. Tai stood suddenly and held out his hand to Sora. She looked up at him questioningly. "What?" she asked, still sounding perturbed. 

"Dance with me." 

Sora's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"Dance with me, Sora," he repeated. Sora smiled weakly after a moment and laughed a bit. She took Tai's hand and he helped her up from her chair. They walked onto the dance floor, accompanying about 5 other couples. Tai led Sora to the middle of the dance floor as a slow song started. He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist and Sora wrapped hers around his neck. They swayed slowly together in rhythm with the music. The lights were dimmed and a small disco ball sent millions of tiny specks of light dancing across the room. 

"Did you have fun tonight?" Tai whispered in her ear. Sora looked up into his eyes... Tai thought he saw the truest of love in the crimson depths he had lost himself in so many times. 

"Other than being harassed by some drunk guy, I had a wonderful time... thank you so much for this, Tai." She rested her head on his shoulder as they danced and Tai smiled upon her.

"Anytime, Ai-chan," he whispered back, and he rested his head on hers. He pulled her as close to his body as she could get and they swayed together in perfect harmony. They didn't notice that they were now the only couple on the floor. Some of the other people eating at the restaurant gazed on the happy pair and smiled, feeling the happiness the two seemed to radiate. The song soon ended and another song replaced it. Tai and Sora never ceased dancing. They laughed and talked together as they danced to help pass the time... they both figured they liked talking while dancing better than when they had laid on the grass the previous day. Hours flew by... soon it was 11:30. The DJ finally stopped playing songs and the restaurant began to clear. The two sat down at their table again and finished their dessert. Close to midnight, their waiter told them the restaurant was closing. Tai smiled and paid the bill, enclosing a generous tip for the waiter, and he and Sora walked together out of the restaurant.

The night had grown very chilly... Tai was more tolerant to the cold than Sora and gave his jacket to her. "Thanks Tai," she said sweetly. 

"You're welcome, " he replied with a smile. 

The two walked arm in arm until they found themselves at the park. They walked, laughing and talking together, and finally found a bench with the perfect view. The moon was almost full and cast a dim white light over the city of Tokyo. Stars twinkled overhead in their own symphony. Cherry blossom trees lined the sidewalks... when the wind blew, some of the petals fell from their perches and fluttered on the wind around Tai and Sora. Sora sighed and rested her head against Tai's shoulder. He returned her affection by resting his head on hers. 

"Tai?"

"Yeah Sora?"

"You never gave me my present." Tai tensed a bit and Sora noticed. She raised her head to look Tai in the eye. "Tai, you've been nervous and distant every time I mention your gift to me," Sora stated firmly, frowning at him. "What is it about your gift that makes you so nervous?" Tai swallowed audibly and smiled nervously at Sora.

"N-nothing," he stammered. Sora put her hands on her hips and stood before Tai. 

"Then give it to me."

"W-what?!"

"Give me my present that you saved up so long for." 

Tai remained stationary for a moment, then sighed and got up from the bench. He stuck his hands in his pockets and grabbed the ring with one of them. He looked Sora straight in the eye and smiled weakly. "Sora... Ai-chan..." he began softly. Sora looked at him strangely. 

"What?"

"Sora, you have been my best friend in the entire world for longer than I can remember. Ever since I can remember, you've been there, no more than a foot away. We both know we have something that's greater than anything else we've ever come across. I know the depth of our relationship can allow us to..."

_**BANG!!!!!!**_

~o.O~

_A/N: BWAHAHAHA! A cliffhanger! Full of surprises, this chapter was? That's probably why I named it what I named it! ^_~ Does the cliffhanger anger you? Well, today's your lucky day, because I made it so I would post all the chapters and the epilogue in one day, so you don't have to wait! ^_^ I know, I'm such a nice person. j/k! R&R please... and if you do, could you tell me if you expected that little BANG at the end to happen??? I want to know if this was predictable! I don't want it to be... I was going for unpredictable... just wait until you see what happens. On to the next chapter with you! ^_^ Thanks a bunch!_

_Kari :)_


	2. Stolen Away

Taking Back Love ch2

Taking Back Love

by Kari

_A/N: Aren't you lucky? You get to read the whole story in one day b/c I was nice and posted up all the chapters in one day! (Actually, I did that mostly b/c I wasn't sure if I'd be able to post one chapter a day consecutively b/c I get in trouble a lot... and internet is always the FIRST thing taken away. -_-') *Sigh* Well, disclaimer's still the same, dedications are still the same, and I'm running out of day here to type, so on with it! ^_^_

_Kari :)_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Previously, in Taking Back Love... (lol, makes it sound like some TV show or somethin... ^_^)

_"Tai?"  
"Yeah Sora?"  
"You never gave my my present." Tai tensed a bit and Sora noticed. She raised her head to look Tai in the eye. "Tai, you've been nervous and distant every time I mention your gift to me," Sora stated firmly, frowning at him. "What is it about your gift that makes you so nervous?" Tai swallowed audibly and smiled nervously at Sora.  
"N-nothing," he stammered. Sora put her hands on her hips and stood before Tai.  
"Then give it to me."  
"W-what!?"  
"Give me my gift that you've saved up so long for." Tai remained stationary for a moment, then sighed and got up from the bench. He stuck his hands in his pockets and grabbed the ring with one of them.   
"Sora... Ai-chan..." he began softly. Sora looked at him strangely.  
"What?"  
"Sora, you have been my best friend in the entire world for longer than I can remember. Ever since I can remember, you've been there, no more than a foot away. We both know we have something that's greater than anything else we've ever come across. I know the depth of our relationship can allow us to..."_

_**BANG!!!!!!!**_

_~o.O~_

Chapter 2:  
Stolen Away

~o.O~

Suddenly, Tai felt something hard and cold strike him in the back of the head. "Wh..." he managed, and then fell to the ground. Sora looked at him in horror and fell to the ground next to him. 

"Tai! Tai, wake up... Tai!" She cradled his head in her lap and gently smacked his face, trying to bring him back to consciousness. Out of the top of her vision, she saw two large feet appear. Terrified, she slowly lifted her gaze to look at Tai's assassin. A pair of legs wearing khaki pants first appeared in her view, followed by a torso wearing a green shirt and brown jacket, and finally the man's face. It was grinning evilly at her... Sora's eyes widened in absolute shock and horror as the smell of alcohol suddenly stung her nostrils... it was the man from the restaurant. 

"Y... you.. you..." she spat out in anger and fear. The man chuckled.

"Told him he'd get it later," he laughed, he speech a bit less slurred than before, but still strung together. 

"...BASTARD!" Sora held tighter to Tai and curled up in fear. She tried as hard as she could to pull Tai away from the man, but he lunged forward, grabbed her arm, and roughly pulled her up from the ground. "Let go of me NOW!" Sora screamed as she tried to wriggle out of the man's grip. The man grew angry and tightened his grip on Sora's arm. She grew desperate as she realized she wasn't going to beat this guy by strenght... so she sharply brought up her leg and kneed the guy where she knew it would cripple him, at least temporarily. The man shouted in pain and dropped to his knees. He didn't let go of Sora as she had hoped, however. She finally managed to at least twist out of Tai's jacket, ran to his side, and tried to help him up. Tai groaned a bit as he came out of his state of unconsciousness. 

"Sora..." he croaked. Sora looked down at him with a fearful and worried expression. "...Run..." Tai again slipped in unconsciousness as she screamed his name. 

"Tai, wake up! Come on, we have to get out of here!" The man started to get up again, and Sora saw him. She threw off here heels and broke into a sprint. It was a bit hard to run with the long skirt, so she pulled it up to her knees to free her legs up. As she ran through the park, listening to the man gaining on her, she looked back periodically to see how close he was. Sora had ran track recently... specifically, hurdles because of her long legs. Sora leaped gracefully over park benches and fire hydrants, trying to slow the man down so she could at least get to a public place. She panted for breath as she ran... suddenly, she stumbled as she stepped on a rather sharp rock. 

"Shoot!" she hissed, pausing to shake it off her foot. That brief pause was what cost her the lead she had over the man. She looked behind her just in time to see the man jump on her and she screamed. 

"Gotcha!" he laughed triumphantly. Sora tried to knee the man again, but he pinned both of her legs down with his. He lowered himself down onto Sora and she struggled to get out from under his weight. He grinned, yellowed teeth showing, and opened his mouth a bit. "Don't worry babe, this won't hurt a bit," he said softly. Sora's eyes widened and her heart stopped when the sick realization hit her...

_He's going to rape me..._ she thought in fear. She closed her eyes and felt tears gather in them... she could feel the man's breath on her face... the stench of booze gagged her and she felt her dinner stir disturbingly in her stomach...

As if a beacon in the night, a car's headlights headed towards them from the road that went through the park. Sora sighed in relief and smiled a bit in spite of her situation. The man bolted up and looked to the headlights. "Sh*t!" he cursed, and stood up. He grabbed Sora and pulled her up, grabbing her around the waist and hoisting her over his shoulder. 

"Let me go! God... let go!" Sora cried, now close to hysteria. The man reached up and banged something hard over the back of Sora's head. She let out a short gasp before blacking out.

"She'll get it too," the man whispered before breaking into a run. He rushed to an old-looking van and opened the door. He hurriedly threw Sora's limp form in the back and slammed the doors. He then ran to the driver's side and jumped in, started the car, and sped off.

~o.O~

Tai awoke from his temporary coma and rubbed his head. "Ow..." he mumbled, his voice cracking a bit. He looked around, his eyes searching for Sora. "Ai-chan?" he called. He didn't remember where she had gone... where was she? "Sora?" he called a bit louder. He was starting to worry now. 

"SORA!" he shouted, standing up too fast. He swayed a bit and grabbed his head, feeling dizzy. Suddenly, the memories flowed back into his conscious mind... Sora at dinner... dancing... him about to propose... getting hit on the back of the head... Sora looking at him in horror... he telling her to run...

Tai grabbed his jacket and heels, which were lying nearby, and sprinted back to his car. He glanced at his watch... 3 AM. "Crap..." he muttered. He quickly dialed Sora's number on his car phone. A very worried-sounding Mr. Takenouchi answered. 

"Sora?" he asked hopefully. 

"No, it's Tai."

"Tai, where the hell are you two? It's 3 in the morning!" Tai tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall as he answered.

"Somebody took her..."

"WHAT!?!"

"The guy knocked me out when I was about to ask Sora to..." Tai trailed off and tried to swallow his tears.

"Who was it, Tai?"

"This guy that hit on Sora at the restaurant... he came back and took her!" Tai was growing angry now... someone had taken his Sora from him... his Ai-chan... his love... his best friend... when Tai got his hands on that guy, it would definitely not be a good day...

"Tai, call your parents and then the police... meet us at the police station in Tokyo," Mr. Takenouchi told him firmly. Tai nodded.

"Okay Mr. Takenouchi, see you in a bit." Tai heard Sora's mother in the background asking Mr. Takenouchi what was going on. Tai winced when she heard her reaction to his answer. Tai hung up the phone and dialed his number next.

"Hello?" Kari answered groggily.

"Kari? Get mom and dad and get down to the police station in Tokyo now!"

A brief silence. 

"Tai?"

"Yeah, go get them and tell them to meet me and the Takenouchis at the police station!"

"Tai, what happened?" Kari sounded very awake and very worried now. 

"Sora was kidnapped..."

"WHAT!?!"

"Kari, please... I'll explain it to you all and Sora's parents when you get to the police station... just get there now!"

"Okay Tai, we're on our way." 

Tai hung up the phone with his sister and next called the police station. "Here goes..." he mumbled as the phone rang. He started the car and sped off towards the station as he spoke to the police.

~o.O~

"Tai, we all got here as fast as we could," Mrs. Kamiya cried, rushing up to her son and embracing him as soon as he had entered the station. "Are you okay?"

The question seemed to confuse Tai... of course he wasn't okay! His only love had been stolen from him! But then... why was he so numb inside? Tai looked emotionless at his mother, remaining completely silent. Mrs. Kamiya backed away a bit from her son and looked at him questioningly. "Honey?" she said hesitantly... Tai could hear the fear and worry in her voice. He broke away from her confused and hurt gaze and looked to the others in the room... Mr. and Mrs. Takenouchi were seated next to each other, looking worn with worry. Mr. Kamiya was seated next to them, and next to him was an empty seat, which Tai supposed his mother had previously been occupying. Kari had apparently told Takeru what had happened, because he was sitting next to her, comforting the softly crying girl in his arms as best he could.

A uniformed female police officer, looking in her late thirties, walked up to Tai. "Can I get you anything before you go in for questioning?"

"Questioning...?" Tai repeated, sounding almost ghostly. 

"Yes. We need all the information on what happened - description of the culprit, events of the crime, things like that, in order to begin a legitimate investigation," the officer explained. Tai suddenly became aware of a dull pounding in his head... probably from being whacked with a metal bar or something.

"Asprin, please," he asked quietly. The officer nodded and rushed off to get Tai a couple Tylenol and a small cup of water. Mrs. Kamiya led Tai to a chair next to Mrs. Takenouchi and helped him sit in it. Tai sat in a rigid upright position and stared straight ahead. The others looked at him, worried, empathetic, and even a bit afraid... this had to be one of the most upsetting things in his life, Sora being taken from him, and he was sitting there like some emotionless statue! Finally the officer returned, the painkiller and one of those cone-shaped paper cups of water in her hands. She offered them to Taichi and he took them, uttering a soft "thank you" to the middle aged woman. The woman nodded in recognition and, casting one last sympathetic glance to the young man, returned to her work.

~o.O~

Half an hour later, Tai hadn't moved an inch. Kari, from her position next to T.K., had been staring at him the whole time. T.K. held Kari's hand and squeezed it supportively. Kari smiled weakly, but didn't tear her gaze away from her brother. "Tai?" she said uncertainly. Tai didn't even flinch. Kari felt her heart break... her brother was either so hurt that he didn't feel anything but, or he was ignoring her. Either one hurt Kari badly. She felt tears rise to her eyes, and she tried to swallow them, but it was in vain. Bitter tears began to roll down her cheeks once again. T.K. took Kari into his arms and whispered soothing words to her.

"Shh... it's okay, it'll be alright," he said softly in her ear, rocking her back and forth and gently rubbing her back in a comforting manner. Kari went into a small coughing fit from crying and T.K. became worried. She hadn't had anything to drink for awhile, no doubt, since it was only 5 in the morning. "Come on Kari, let's go get you something to drink," T.K. coaxed, helping her to her feet. Kari nodded, but before going, turned to Tai and whispered, 

"I love you, big brother."

Tai looked up at her... he actually moved... the same emotionless expression on his face. He stared into his sister's tear-filled eyes... his heart ached at her worried, selfless expression. 

_I've hurt them, _Tai thought bitterly. _They're worried about Sora and me and all I've done is shut them out! I'm being such a selfish jerk!_ Tai suddenly got up, walked over to his sister, and wrapped his arms around her. 

"I'm so sorry Kari," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. Kari let out a sob of relief and hugged Tai tightly.

"Oh God Tai, don't ever stay quiet for more than five minutes again! You never have been, and now's not the time to start!" Kari cried, trying for a bit of humor. Tai chuckled a bit in spite of his mood. He quickly sobered as his mind went to her...

"Sora... God Kari, I'm so scared... what if that guy is..." Tai broke off and squeezed his eyes shut, tears threatening to fall. He didn't want to say the man was hurting her, or raping her, or worse, killing her... he'd break down just when Sora needed him the most... right now... he needed to help the police. He needed to tell them everything he knew. Suddenly Tai felt an extra hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw T.K. smiling warmly at him, one hand on his shoulder and the other on Kari's. 

"Don't worry Tai, we'll get her back... alive and well," he told Tai. Tai smiled. It was just like T.K. to have that unfailing hope that everything would be alright in the end.

"You live up to that crest of yours... no wonder Kari likes you so much," Tai whispered so that his and Sora's parents wouldn't hear. T.K. blushed a bit, as did Kari, and smiled. 

"She lives up to hers... that's why she's the light of my life," T.K. replied, blushing further and squeezing Kari's shoulder. Just then, a man in a pair of khaki slacks and a white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, walked into the room.

"Taichi Kamiya?" Tai looked to the man gravely.

"Yes, that's me," he replied.

"Come with me please, I'd like to ask you a few questions." 

Tai nodded and looked down at his sister. "I'll be back soon, I promise," he told her with a smile. Kari wiped away her tears and nodded, letting him go. T.K. took Kari's hand in his and together with Tai and Sora's parents watched Tai follow the man into a private room. Before entering, Tai turned back and looked at T.K. "T.K., take Kari to get something to drink, she sounds a bit hoarse." 

T.K. laughed, as did Kari, and nodded. Tai then entered the room and the door was shut. "Come on Kari, there's gotta be a soda machine around here somewhere..." T.K. said, taking Kari towards the front of the station.

~o.O~

Tai sat in a hard chair across from the man who had called him in. He looked around the room... the surroundings were gray and dismal, very bland. "Hm... a little color would spruce this room right up," Tai joked. 

"Sir, this is no time for joking around. We need you to tell us all you can about the abduction of Ms. Takenouchi," the detective told him firmly. Tai grinned, but it was a sad, grave smile. 

"Ask away."

"Okay... the first thing, I suppose, would be the description of the man who took the young lady." Tai furrowed his brow as he tried to recall the man in his mind. He spoke slowly...

"He was tall, around 5'10"... he had cold eyes... light blue, I think, or maybe gray... the guy had short brown hair that was kinda spiked, but not really... he was wearing a brown leather jacket, khaki slacks, and a green shirt... Caucasian... I'm sorry, that's all I can remember right now." The detective nodded.

"That's fine Mr. Kamiya, a very good description of him. We'll send out a wire over the network and get people to look for her." Tai nodded wearily. After being awake for almost 24 hours, he was dead tired.

"Thank you... and if you find anything out, anything at all, let me know... I want to be there when you catch the bastard... and I want Sora back," he told the detective. The middle-aged man flashed a small smile. 

"We'll find your girlfriend, don't worry." Tai blushed a bit.

"She's my best friend, but..."

"But what?"

"Nevermind. Can I go home now? I need some sleep, and I have church in the morning... wait, scratch that... in 3 1/2 hours." The man laughed.

"Sure, go ahead Mr. Kamiya, get some rest." Tai stood to leave to room, but before going, turned back to the man.

"And one more thing..."

"Sir?"

"Call me Tai."

The man smiled and nodded. "I'm Atsushi Miura." Tai smiled and exited the room.

~o.O~

Drip......

drip.....

drip......

_Where am I? What is this place? Where's Tai? Who is that man? It's dark... and if that water drips on my nose one more time, I swear... Let's take a look around here. This looks like some kind of warehouse or something. It's cold too... I wish I hadn't taken Tai's jacket off... Wait! I remember what happened now! Tai took me to dinner *sigh*, that's got to be one of the sweetest things he's ever done for me... we were at the park, and he was about to give me my present... I wonder where he was going with that, anyway... then that jerk knocked him out and took me and knocked me out too... agh, I need some Tylenol. Why can't I move? Am I tied up? I am... that jerk tied me up! Oh God... he's coming over here... and he's drunk... AGAIN._

"Hey, Sexy."

_Oh gross... he's definitely NOT my type._

"Guess what?"

_I don't even want to know. I don't want to be here. I don't want you. I want Tai. I want to be with my best friend, not some drunk-off-his-ass moron._

"We're gonna play a little game."

_Great. Watch me get excited. I hope you're not too drunk to hear the sarcasm dripping from my voice. Don't even think of touching me... get your filthy hand away from my face! Ugh... your hand is so rough... and cold... and clammy... nothing like Tai's... get it off my cheek!_

"Have you ever played truth or dare?"

_Hasn't everybody? Only with FRIENDS? Never with KIDNAPPERS? Back off, buddy._

"I guess you have... hasn't everybody?" 

_What a genius! Somebody give him a cookie, preferrably loaded with pesticides._

"Okay... ask me, you go first."

_What a gentleman. You gagged me you moron! I couldn't talk to you or ask you anything even if I wanted to!_

"Hm... what a choice... dare."

_o.O... you must be crazy.... and hearing things... I didn't say a word to you, stupid._

"What's that? You want me to screw ya hard?" 

_WHAT?! NO, I DIDN'T SAY THAT!!!_

"Well... if you insist."

_GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!! DON'T you DARE touch me! _

"Have you ever been screwed before?"

_GET AWAY!!!_

"It's a lot of fun..."

_NO!!!_

"Especially when you're all tied up like that... turns me on."

_You sick bast... GOD! Please... please... don't do it..._

"Don't cry, baby, this won't hurt a bit..."

_DON'T!!!! No God, please! Tai and I promised each other we wouldn't until we got married... don't you DARE make me break a promise to him! I haven't yet, and I don't intend to start now! Why are you untying my legs?... Oh that's sick. (A_/N: he's not doing anything, that would be bad... he's preparing to. Sickos! j/k... back to the fic!) _Get off!!!! Wait... if I just kick up..._

"AGH!!!! You... DAMN!"

_Oh thank GOD he's off... haha, he looks pretty funny rolling around like that... and he's getting up, what a trooper._

"We'll... finish this game... later... ow..."

_Yeah, I bet we will... YEAH RIGHT! Can't wait to rack ya again, especially if you even THINK of trying that again! Ugh... *sigh* Tai, please... find me soon... I need you..._

~o.O~

Tai sat in history on Monday afternoon staring outside with a very worried and downcast expression on his face. It hadn't left since Saturday night. _Sora... I'm coming to find you... as soon as Mr. Shiwamura finishes this lecture on the history of the Yukata. I don't even wear Yukatas, you do... why do we have to learn about this? Oh Sora... remember when we went to the cherry blossom festival together two years ago, and you wore that green Yukata with the pink flowers on it and a big pink obi? You looked so beautiful in that..._

"Mr. Kamiya!"

_Huh?_

"Taichi... I know you're upset about Ms. Takenouchi, but you still need to pay attention in class."

_I can't... Sora... Sora..._

"I'm coming Sora!!!"

And with that, Tai ran out of the room. Mr. Shiwamura looked on, dazed at first, as Tai ran out without permission. He sadly shook his head. "Poor kid..."

~o.O~

Tai drove down the street towards the police station, his mind filled with thoughts of Sora. 

_It's been two days since she was taken from me... taken Saturday, and now it's Monday. I had finally gotten the courage to ask her to marry me and then that... that... MAN took her... if he hurts her at all, he won't live to see another day, I swear it!_

Tai finally reached the police station. He jumped out of his car, rushed into the station, and asked for Mr. Miura. The officer at the desk directed him into Mr. Miura's office. When Tai walked in, Mr. Miura looked up from his work, surprised to see him. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I couldn't stay... everybody was asking me how I was doing and that they were sorry and that they understood how I felt... they don't understand! They're acting like Sora's dead or something!"

Mr. Miura shook his head sadly. "Well Tai, you know that's a poss..." Tai interrupted him with an angry outburst.

"NO! Sora's alive... I know she is." Mr. Miura said nothing, so Taichi continued. "Have you gotten any leads yet?" Mr. Miura shook his head.

"It's only been two days, Tai. It's usually three or four days before we find anything important." Tai sighed in frustration and helplessness. He ran his hand through his now shorter brown hair and flopped down in a nearby chair. He suddenly felt extremely tired. "Tai, why don't you head on home? You look like hell. I'll call you the minute we hear anything," Mr. Miura suggested. Tai grinned painfully and pinched the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes as he replied.

"I haven't slept well lately." 

"You look it. Go on home and get some rest." Tai got up from the chair and Mr. Miura rose as well to show him to the door. He placed a hand on Tai's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find her." Tai looked up and smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Mr. Miura." The detective smiled. 

"No problem. Now get outta here." Tai laughed a bit, nodded, and left the room. Mr. Miura returned to his desk and sat down with a tired-sounding sigh. "For your sake Tai, and hers... I hope we find her," he mumbled. He shook his head lightly and returned to his work with a new, stronger determination.

~o.O~

Tai slowly drove himself home, looking left and right for any sign of Sora or the man who took her. By the time he had reached his family's home, he had seen three red-haired girls, something that looked suspiciously like a drug deal, and his sister walking down the street with T.K., but there was no sign of Sora anywhere to his dismay. Sadly, he trudged up the stairs to his family's apartment. He slowly took out his key, opened the door, and walked inside.

"Hello?" he called into the seemingly deserted apartment. He knew Kari wasn't home and probably wouldn't be until later that night because she was with T.K., but he didn't remember his parents saying anything about going anywhere. Suddenly, Tai heard a low growl come from inside of him. He grinned a bit and gently patted his firm stomach. "Guess I haven't been eating well either..." 

Tai went to the refrigerator and stuck his head in to look for anything edible. "Hm... tofu, soy..." Tai spotted an orange carton and picked it up... "Ugh, pulp," then set the carton back in its place. "Ooh, new stuff... no, knowing my mother it's probably not fit for human consumption." Tai looked around a bit more and finally gave up on the fridge, moving on to the freezer. 

"Please, please, please, please, please, please... YES!" Tai thankfully spotted a box of frozen waffles. He grabbed four out of the package and stuffed them in the toaster. As Tai stood waiting for the waffles to toast, his mind again wandered to Sora. 

_Why did it have to be you, Ai-chan? This is all my fault... I should've watched over you better. I always could in the Digital World... and here, for the most part... but why not now? I miss you so much, Sora... you've never been away from me for this long! Well... except for that time in the Digiworld when you wanted some alone-time away from the rest of us... but that's it._

A blinking red light suddenly caught Tai's attention and tore him away from his thoughts. "A message? From who? I didn't miss Mr. Miura's call, did I!?" Tai rushed to the counter where the answering machine sat and hastily slammed his finger on the play button. 

"_You have -three- new messages," _the automated voice stated. Tai waited anxiously as the first message started to play.

_"Hi Tai and Kari, it's your mother," _Mrs. Kamiya's voice rang out through the empty apartment. Tai let out a sigh of relief. _"Your father and I went to go see your grandmother and pick up a few things at the health food store, so we should be home around 8! Tai honey, could you make dinner for you and your sister? See you two later! Love you!"_

Then the message ended. "I won't need to make her dinner, I'm sure she's probably eating at T.K.'s," Tai grinned. The next message proved him right.

"_Mom, Dad, Tai, it's Kari, T.K. invited me to dinner tonight, so I won't be home until around 7:30 or 8, okay?" _T.K.'s voice joined Kari's on the message. 

"_My mom said it's fine and I get to drive her home since I got my permit yesterday!"_ Then Kari's voice took over again.

_"Lord help us..." _Tai heard T.K. say "_Hey!" _in a very mock angry tone. Kari giggled and gave T.K. what sounded like a kiss. Tai felt a twinge of anger arise in him... Kari and T.K. had been dating for years, but as her big brother, he always felt obligated to knock any guy's teeth out if they touched his sister. "_Anyway, just letting you know so you don't wonder! See you guys later!" _

Tai chuckled as he thought of his sister and T.K. Tai and Matt had been somewhat responsible for their current relationship, and now that T.K. and Kari were as close as they were, the two brothers often regretted ever pushing the issue. Tai was a bit more relaxed as the third message was about to play, after the two previous messages were somewhat unimportant.

"_Tai?"_

Tai shot to an undivided attention when he heard the soft, frightened, familiar female voice on the message. "Sora..." he breathed.

_"Tai, I know you're at school, but hopefully you'll get this message soon... the guy who took me is out cold on the floor from beer and I swiped his cell. Okay, I know we're in an abandoned building somewhere... I don't know exactly where though because he knocked me out when he threw me in the back of the van... it's an old warehouse, I think. Don't worry, I'm okay, but he... *sigh* the guy keeps trying to rape me. I've kneed him every time so he hasn't gotten far... but I haven't been able to eat or drink anything in two or three days or however long it's been and I haven't gotten sleep either... if I go to sleep he'll try and rape me again. I keep getting weaker and weaker, and I'm afraid that soon I won't be able to stop him... Please Tai, hurry and find me! I don't want to break my promise to you..." _Tai knew exactly which promise she was referring to. "_Oh, and the guy's name is Keisuke Kawamura, maybe that'll help y... AH!" _

Tai shot up further in anger and horror when he heard Sora get slapped. "_You can't have this whore back cheap, she's worth quite a bit, as good as she is," _the man growled in the cell phone... and then it cut off. Tai sat there in horror for several moments, trying to take in what he had just heard.

_She's alive... and she's okay... but he's trying to hurt her... I have to get to her now!!! _Tai picked up the phone and dialed the number Mr. Miura had given him. Tai waited impatiently through several rings until finally Mr. Miura picked up.

"Miura," he said. 

"Mr. Miura, Sora called me."

"Tai?"

"Yes, Sora left a message on my answering machine earlier." 

Tai heard Mr. Miura switch him to a speakerphone. "Just a minute Tai, I'm going to get some people in here and then I want you to play that message for us."

"Sure." Tai was put on hold as Mr. Miura called some people that were working on Sora's case. He fidgeted in worry as he listened to the choking silence on the other end of the line. "Come on, come on, come on!" Tai whispered frantically to the phone. Finally Mr. Miura began to talk to Taichi again.

"Okay Tai, go ahead and play the message." Tai rubbed the back of his head sheepishly for a moment.

"Uh, Mr. Miura? My answering machine is stuck in the early '90's and has a tape in it... I'll have to play all the messages for you to hear the one from Sora," he explained. Tai heard Mr. Miura and the other officers in his office laugh a bit at this.

"Okay, then go ahead and get started." 

"Alright." Tai started the messages and turned up the machine to maximum volume. He held the phone to his ear and leaned down close to the speaker so Mr. Miura and company could hear the messages. He heard a few laughs in response to his mother's and Kari's messages (especially Kari's) and smiled a bit in spite of himself. Then Sora's message began to play. Tai felt tears once again threatening to fall, except this time they were more from anger than anything. That Keisuke guy was hurting Sora... and trying to take from her what Tai wanted more than anything else in the world... and Tai was not about to let him have her. The message ended quickly and Tai stood upright again, waiting for Mr. Miura's response. 

"Okay Tai, I need you to come to the station right away," he told him.

"I'm on my way."

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Do you think I could've? Or can, now that I have something to find Sora with?"

".......Good point. Get over here now."

"See you soon." Tai hung up the phone and scribbled a note to his parents explaining what had happened, telling them to listen to the message and get to the police station as soon as they could. He then grabbed his blue Adidas jacket and sprinted to his car, started it up, and raced to the police station.

~o.O~

_A/N: End chapter 2! And now on to the third and final chapter with you b/c I have nothing clever to say right now... -_-' My brain is fried from trying to work, type, and talk on the phone at once. Thank God I'm a girl and can actually do more than one thing at once... hehe! eep... o.O Crap! Gotta run, I think the guys are mad at me! Go to the next chapter whilst I outrun these guys! I was just kidding, guys! Don't hate me because I speak the truth! I mean... uh... later!_

_Kari :)_


	3. Taking Back Love

Taking Back Love ch3

Taking Back Love

by Kari

_A/N: *wipes her brow* Now that I have outrun the angry males... ^_~! Here's chapter three for ya! There's an epilogue coming up next, so don't think that it's over when it's over. ^_^ Did I fully confuse you now or what! Oh... and not all guys can do just one thing at a time... I know plenty of smart ones that can manage two! Okay, I'll stop guy-bashing now... you're not bad, really! Enough, enough... disclaimer's the same, dedications are the same, bla bla bla... Here's chapter three! R&R please! ^_^_

_Kari :)_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Previously, in Taking Back Love... (Now this sounds like a soap opera! *shudders*.... o.O)

_The message ended quickly and Tai stood upright again, waiting for Mr. Miura's response.   
"Okay Tai, I need you to come to the station right away," he told him.  
"I'm on my way."  
"Did you get any sleep?"  
"Do you think I could've? Or can, now that I have something to find Sora with?"  
".......Good point. Get over here now."  
"See you soon." Tai hung up the phone and scribbled a note to his parents explaining what had happened, telling them to listen to the message and get to the police station as soon as they could. He then grabbed his blue Adidas jacket and sprinted to his car, started it up, and raced to the police station._

_~o.O~_

Chapter 3:  
Taking Back Love

~o.O~

Tai took the stairs up to the police station two and three at a time. He was lucky he hadn't been stopped for speeding... he had made it to the station in a record 5 minutes, where the trip usually took at least 10. He burst in the doors, panting, beads of sweat dotting his sun-bronzed face. mr. Miura was near the entrance of the station waiting for Tai. 

"I got here as soon as I could," Tai said through gasps for breath.

"From the looks of you I don't doubt it," Mr. Miura said honestly, a small grin etched on his features.

"What are we going to do now? Are we going to find Sora?"

Mr. Miura shook his head. "Not right at this moment. We are putting together a list of places they might be. Officers are out patrolling the streets right now, checking out various abandoned warehouses and buildings to see if anyone is in them." 

"But we'll go find her tonight, right?" Tai asked anxiously. Mr. Miura turned back and grinned with determination and anticipation.

"You bet. Keisuke Kawamura is going to regret the day he stole Sora Takenouchi from Taichi Kamiya." Tai returned the grin... the first time in days he had truly smiled. 

"Great! .....I get to come, right? I mean, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't come to get her. I am the one who lost her, after all..."

"You didn't lose her... we'll get her back, Tai. And of course you can come! Go home at the moment and get anything you may need, then come straight back here."

"I've got everything I need."

"You sure?" 

Tai was about to nod, but suddenly remembered something that was on his nightstand at home... something he wanted to give to Sora the moment he saw her. "On second thought, there is something I want to bring," he said with a small smile. Mr. Miura smirked, as if he knew exactly what Tai was planning.

"Sure, hurry back."

"Thanks," Tai said, and he turned to leave.

~^_^~

Tai hurried home, rushed into his room, and grabbed what he came for... Sora's ring. It was still wrapped in the red silk cloth that it had been in the night Sora had been taken. Tai looked at it as it lay in his hand... it briefly caught the light of the late afternoon sun streaming in the room through Tai's window and glinted brightly. Tai smiled in content as he imagined how much more beautiful it would look on Sora's finger. 

He snapped out of his daydream, closing his hand over the ring and stuffing it and the cloth in his jacket pocket. He then hurried out of his apartment and flew down the stairs. Just as he was about to jump back in his car, he heard someone call him. 

"Tai, wait!"

Tai impatiently turned to see his sister and her boyfriend running towards him. "Kari? I thought you were staying at T.K.'s until 7:30!" Tai said as they ran up to him.

"I was, but I forgot to bring something for T.K."

"Homework I missed," T.K. explained.

"Where are you going?" Kari demanded.

"Mr. Miura said we're going to get Sora back tonight!" Tai told them excitedly.

"Really?" Kari asked, making her way to Tai's car. T.K. followed close behind her. Tai looked blankly at them, then shook his head. 

"Ohhhhh no, it's too dangerous for you two."

Kari and T.K. ignored him and climbed into the backseat of his car. Tai looked at them from outside the car on the driver's side. They looked back innocently.

"You're not going," Tai said firmly. 

They said nothing.

"Get out!"

"No," Kari said, her tone indifferent. 

"Mom and Dad won't know where you are!"

"I'll call them from the station."

"T.K.'s mom won't know where he is!"

"She won't mind if I call her," T.K. cut in cheerfully. Tai huffed impatiently.

"Get out... _now_."

"You're wasting time, Tai," Kari said softly, her voice overlapping his. Tai glared at her and T.K. for a few moments, then with an exasperated sigh, got in the car and started it. He watched T.K. and Kari smile at each other in triumph in the rearview mirror. They saw this and tried to suppress their grins, though unsuccessfully.

"Don't get used to this me-giving-in stuff," Tai growled, though traces of a grin were apparent on his face as well. "I promise you it's not happening often."

"Sure Tai," Kari smiled.

"I only let you two come because we're going for Sora."

"Okay!"

"Okay then... just so we're at an understanding." Kari and T.K. just laughed, deciding to let Tai continue to believe he was the one in control.

"So how did the police find out where Sora is?" T.K. asked.

"She called me."

"Seriously?" Kari asked, her jaw scraping the floor of the car. 

"Yeah... she left a message on the machine while we were at school. Mr. Miura said they've sent patrols out to all the abandoned warehouses and buildings in the area," Tai explained. 

"An abandoned warehouse? How cliche..." Kari muttered.

"Awesome! We get to go get Sora!" T.K. exclaimed. Tai glared at him and Kari in the rearview mirror for the second time that day. 

"I'm letting you come to the station, but you are NOT coming to get her," Tai growled. Kari opened her mouth to argue, but Tai shot her an icy look, very uncharacteristic of him, all but daring her to say something. She indignantly closed her mouth and crossed her arms across her chest. T.K. put his arms around her shoulders and squeezed them gently.

"At least he's letting us go," he whispered to her. "And besides... I'm sure we can find _something_ to do at the station." T.K. said this with a sly grin. Kari looked up at him and a bright pink blush appeared on her cheeks. 

"Takeru Takaishi, you are _so_ bad! Who'd have known the innocent little bearer of hope had a bad streak," she teased, lightly punching his shoulder. "You learn something new everyday." 

T.K. chuckled and squeezed her shoulders again. They heard a low growl from the front seat and looked to Tai, surprised. Kari grinned when she saw her brother glancing at them and scooted closer to T.K. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. T.K. looked confused (yet very content ^_^), and Kari whispered to him, "Overprotective brother alert!" 

T.K. grinned in understanding and slipped his hand from her shoulder to her waist. He kissed her briefly, causing her to blush yet again. Tai glared at them and they laughed. 

"Calm down Tai, T.K. won't hurt me, and he's no one to be afraid of," Kari smirked.

"Yes... and I trust him with you..." Tai began, "but he IS a member of the male species and I know how we get when we're around our girlfriends." 

"Or the girl you _wish_ you were with," she teased. Tai glanced at her again and prepared to say something back, but decided against it. She wasn't wrong, so why should he say she was?

~^_^~

They drove the rest of the way to the station, T.K. and Kari talking and Tai deep in thought... unusual for him. His mind kept wandering to the ring in his pocket...

_Tai, you put it off too long on Saturday... and you lost your chance then. Now you have your second chance tonight. Stop wasting time! You HAVE to propose to her as soon as you see her, or else it might be too late again. _

Tai smiled in determination, his mind made up. He pulled up to the station and parked in the small lot next to it. "Alright you two, out of the car," Tai barked as he jumped out of the car. T.K. and Kari rushed out as well and Tai locked the doors. He ran up the stairs again, this time closely followed by Kari and T.K., and entered the station. Mr. Miura was again standing near the entrance, waiting for them. He laughed when he saw the two younger teenagers alongside Tai.

"Is this what you had to go back for?" he chuckled. 

"No, I had to get something else, but _these_ two wanted to come along," Tai explained, glancing back at them with a frown.

"What did you go back for?" T.K. asked, grinning. Kari giggled. Tai shot him a look, commanding him not to ask about it right now. T.K. raised his eyebrows and bent his arms at the elbows to raise his hands in the air. "Fine, I don't want to know..."

Mr. Miura laughed. "Uh huh. Well, I have some good news and some bad news for you," he said. 

"Did you find her?" Tai asked anxiously.

"Well, yes... and no."

"Huh? What do you mean yes and no?"

"Well... why don't you come into my office and I'll explain." Mr. Miura turned and motioned for Tai, T.K., and Kari to follow suit. They walked into Mr. Miura's office and sat down in small cushioned office chairs in front of his desk. Mr. Miura stood behind his desk and leaned on the top of his. 

"Here's the deal..." he began, "we've found the abandoned warehouse we believe Ms. Takenouchi and Mr. Kawamura are in..."

"Is that the good news?" T.K. asked.

"Yes... the bad news is that he knows we've found them. When we attempted to approach the building, he shot at us, telling us that if we came in he'd kill her."

"WHAT?!" Tai exclaimed.

"When they attempted to app..."

"I heard him Kari, it's a figure of speech!" Tai snapped.

"I know, I was trying to get on your NERVES," Kari shot back.

"What are you going to do about it?" T.K. asked from his place at Kari's side, his fingers intertwined with hers. Mr. Miura looked at him... he looked very frustrated and weary. The dark circles under his eyes gave the impression he had been very busy... maybe so much that he didn't sleep well. 

"We're putting together a rescue plan right now... come into the interrogation room and my men will explain it. They're in there right now," he told them. Tai, Kari, and T.K. nodded, and followed Mr. Miura out of his office and into the interrogation room where Tai had been questioned Saturday night/Sunday morning. They walked in and noticed a map of Tokyo had been posted on a wall. 

"Hm... not exactly what I was thinking, but a good attempt at color," Tai grinned. Unlike the first time Tai had been in this room, Mr. Miura chuckled. He then motioned to one of the young uniformed police officers to explain the operation to Tai and the others. 

"This is Takeshi Shimamura," Mr. Miura introduced. Takeshi nodded to the others, then took his place next to the map of Tokyo. 

"Alright. This," Takeshi pointed to a pushpin stuck onto the map, "is where the warehouse is that Mr. Kawamura is keeping Ms. Takenouchi. Our plan is that we call him on his cell and try to negotiate with him. While we do this, Mr. Miura, Mr. Kamiya, Aya Muyo, and Satoru Oikawa will sneak in through a back way already picked out by an officer on the scene. All of us on the outside will do our best to distract Mr. Kawamura. Mr. Kamiya, while Mr. Miura, Aya, and Satoru go after Mr. Kawamura, you will rescue Ms. Takenouchi. I believe this will please you?" 

Tai smiled brightly, glad he was the one to actually save her. Takeshi smirked, then continued. "All of this has to be accomplished within the span of 20 minutes. We figure this is maximum amount of time that Mr. Kawamura will allow us to negotiate with him." Takeshi looked around to the rest of the people in the room and they all nodded in agreement. Mr. Miura went to the map and placed a hand on Takeshi's shoulder.

"Good work, Shimamura. It's an excellent plan." Takeshi smiled respectfully and stepped away from the map, joining 9 other men and women in the corner of the room. Mr. Miura cleared his throat. "Now, we need someone to stay here and monitor a radio transmission... any volunteers?" He looked around the room and saw everyone looking at each other, none of them wanting to back out of the sting operation.

"We'll do it," Kari suddenly spoke. Mr. Miura looked at them questioningly. 

"Yeah, Kari and I can stay here and listen to you on the radio... Tai won't let us go on the sting anyway," T.K. added. Mr. Miura looked around again to the other officers and they all had small smiles of approval on their faces. Mr. Miura looked back at the two young teens and nodded. 

"Okay then. Ayaka, please show these two how to work the radio," he said the the same middle-aged woman that had gotten Tai the Tylenol the night Sora had been taken. She stepped forward, nodded, and motioned for T.K. and Kari to follow her out of the room. Tai looked after them and Kari looked back. He smiled gratefully at her and mouthed a small "_Thank you." _She flashed a bright smile at her brother and then followed T.K. and Ayaka out of the room. Tai looked back at Mr. Miura when he had cleared his throat for attention once more.

"Now, we know that Mr. Kawamura is armed, so we'll need to wear bulletproof vests... Tai, Satoru, Aya, and I will wear them under our clothes, and the rest of you will wear the black uniform with the vests on the outside," he instructed. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Now let's get ready to go... we leave in half an hour."

~*_*~

Tai's hands shook in anticipation and fear as he attempted to put on his bulletproof vest. Mr. Miura noticed and looked at him sympathetically. "Nervous?"

"Kinda... are you sure this vest thing will stop _any_ bullet?" Tai asked, his voice shaky. Mr. Miura smiled weakly.

"Well, not any bullet, but it'll stop the kind Kawamura has," he explained. Tai sighed in relief.

"Good."

"But the impact from the bullet will probably leave a good-sized bruise, and it'll hurt. Maybe even knock the wind out of you, depending on how close the shot was fired from."

Tai gulped audibly and Mr. Miura laughed. "Don't worry Tai, chances are good that we'll get in and out, with Sora, with no complications," he told him. Tai smiled nervously.

"I'm still nervous about it... but I guess I'll be okay."

"Good. Now let's get you a handgun, just in case, and then we'll get going."

Tai looked blankly after Mr. Miura as he turned his back to him. "W-wait, I get a gun?" Mr. Miura ignored him. "Hey! A gun, you said? I've never even seen a gun up close!"

~*_*~

Tai climbed in the back of the police's black van and sat on one of the benches lining the sides of the rear part of the vehicle. He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and fiddled with the ring in the right pocket. Sitting down was hard for him, since the vest restricted the amount of flexibility his torso had. It was uncomfortable and hard to breathe, but he managed... how was unknown to him. Maybe it was the adrenaline that was coursing throughout his body that allowed him to breathe at all. 

The other police officers climbed in after him and took their places on the benches. Each was armed with small semi-automatic rifles, most with smaller pistols. Tai looked around at them nervously... he didn't really like the idea of guns, especially when Sora was in danger of a ricocheting bullet hitting her. But he figured it was in her best interest for the officers to have them, just in case something _did_ go wrong. 

Tai looked out of the back of the van and saw T.K. and Kari standing outside of it, hand in hand. He waved to them, trying to disguise his fear as excitement. They saw right through it, however, but wished him luck regardless. Tai smiled gratefully at them and then the back doors were closed. Tai leaned his head back against the side of the van as it sped through the streets of Tokyo and sighed, trying to tame his nerves. The other officers looked at him occasionally, a couple of the more pompous men in spite, but most in sympathy. 

Takeshi, who since he had met Tai had become his friend, looked at him from across the van and smiled. "This'll go smoothly Tai, don't worry... I don't think Mr. Kawamura will give us any trouble," he told Tai. Tai looked at him and nervously returned the smile, though it disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced and was replaced with a worried frown. "What's wrong?" Takeshi asked, his tone worried. Tai shook his head and laughed nervously.

"It's nothing," he lied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Takeshi looked unconvinced, but probed no further. 

~*_*~

The rest of the ride was completed in silence. In all, the trip took at most 20 minutes. Tai looked out of the windows on the back doors of the van and watched as a large, old looking warehouse appeared in them. He felt anger suddenly stir within him, along with longing and anxiety and excitement... he was finally getting his Sora back, but he also had to see this Keisuke jerk again. That made Tai very angry... if Keisuke hurt her, Tai would knock his teeth out. All of them. He was that pissed off.

Mr. Miura looked back at them from his place in the front passenger seat. "Everybody out," he stated simply. The back doors were opened by the two officers at the far ends of the benches in the back of the van. Tai, Takeshi, and the rest of the officers climbed out of the van and met up with six other officers already on the scene. Mr. Miura went up to one of them and shook his hand.

"Everything ready?" he asked. The other officer nodded.

"Yes sir... Mr. Kawamura is getting a bit edgy from our presence here, so I suggest we hurry." Mr. Miura nodded in agreement and signaled for his men to gather round him. 

"Okay people, you all know what to do." Mr. Miura picked up his walkie-talkie and spoke clearly into it. "T.K., Kari, you two there?" Their voices rang out over the airwaves as Tai listened.

"_We're here," _they said simultaneously. 

"Good. We're about to start, so keep listening and make sure the whole thing is getting on tape.

"_You got it!"_

Mr. Miura quietly signaled for Tai and the others that were going inside the building to follow him while the older officer dialed Keisuke Kawamura's cell number into his phone...

~*_*~

Sora gasped in pain as Keisuke ripped the tape from her mouth. "Ow!" she cried. Keisuke looked down at her insanely. 

"Okay little girl, you're going to give me what I want and you're going to give it to me now!" he shouted in a high-pitched, desperate voice. 

"No, please!" 

Keisuke ignored her cries and lowered himself towards her. Sora tried to fend for herself and fight him off... she tried to knee him as she had done many times the past few days, but this time, unlike the others, he pinned her leg down before she reached her target. Sora screamed inside her mind... that was her last chance of keeping him off and out of her. From the lack of food, water, and sleep the past two and a half days, she was extremely fatigued and could hardly even put up a decent fight. She felt dehydrated, sleepy, and hopeless. Painfully Sora squinted her eyes shut and tried to keep the tears from falling.

_I'm sorry Tai... _she cried out in her thoughts, _I couldn't keep him from doing it... please forgive me! I'm so sorry I could keep my promise to you!_

Keisuke laughed like a maniac when he saw that Sora was giving up the fight. "Hah! That's a good little girl, be good for Keisuke..." He lowered himself down until he laid on top of her. He felt Sora's entire body tense when his weight was pressed on her, but he paid no heed. He grabbed Sora's face in his hands roughly and pulled her up to meet his lips...

But before he could, his cell phone rang. He cursed loudly and looked back to the phone, rising to a sitting position on top of Sora. Sora opened her eyes wide with hope. Keisuke glared at the phone for a moment, but to Sora's horror, didn't get up. He simply looked back to her and cast her a devilish grin. 

"Whoever it is, they can wait." Sora's mind raced for a way to get him to answer the phone. Then it came to her...

"Wait!" 

Keisuke looked at her blankly. "What?"

"If you answer the phone, I'll..."

"You'll what?"

Sora lowered her eyes in shame. "I'll have sex with you."

Keisuke's face lit up... disturbingly. "You will!?"

"Yes," she whispered painfully.

"No more attempts to render me sterile?"

Sora normally would've thought this somewhat funny, but considering the situation, didn't even consider cracking a smile. "No."

"YEAH!" Keisuke exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. He jumped up from Sora's abdomen and ran for the phone. "Hello?" he answered, making his way back to Sora and sitting on her once more so she wouldn't get away.

"Mr. Kawamura?"

"Yeah, who the hell are you?"

"This is Officer Hida, and I'd like to speak with you about Ms. Takenouchi." Keisuke's expression turned to one of fury.

"How do you know I have her in here!?" he shouted into the receiver.

"Calm down Mr. Kawamura, we only want to negotiate with you." 

Keisuke seemed to calm down a bit and relaxed his stance, but remained furious. "So negotiate," he said, his voice dangerously low. 

"Well, do you have any demands, any ransom you want for the young lady?" Keisuke pondered a bit.

"As a matter of fact, yes, there is..."

~*_*~

Tai tiptoed through the back door of the warehouse, closely following Mr. Miura. Takeshi was behind Tai, Aya was behind Takeshi, and Satoru was behind her. Mr. Miura reached a door that led into the room where Keisuke and Sora were. He looked behind him at Tai and the others, took a deep breath, and opened the door without a sound. He started in, but suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked back at Tai again...

"Tai, remember... whatever you see, don't rush in. We have to take him by surprise." Tai nodded, not really sure why Mr. Miura had stopped to tell him that. He wasn't planning on doing anything to endanger Sora. Mr. Miura looked at him a moment longer, then turned and entered the room, signaling for Tai and the others to follow. 

The part of the room they came in was dim, the light blocked by old, long shut down machinery. The five crouched behind the machinery and listened to Keisuke yell at the police over the phone. Mr. Miura cautiously stuck his head out from behind the machines and saw Keisuke facing away from him, sitting atop of Sora. He grimaced, knowing Tai would probably knock the guy's head in once he saw him. 

Mr. Miura brought his head back into the shadows. "He's facing away from us. We have to sneak up on him so Ms. Takenouchi won't be harmed..." 

As Mr. Miura was saying this, however, Tai was peeking out to catch a glimpse of Sora. He looked around and saw only Keisuke sitting on the floor talking on the phone. _Where is she?_ he wondered silently. His chocolate brown eyes darted around wildly in search of his lost love... he was determined to take her back. His eyes suddenly shot back to Keisuke, and he noticed this time that he was sitting on something... something with red hair and wearing a blue dress...

"GET OFF OF HER NOW!!!!!" he roared, running out of the darkness and taking off at a sprint towards Keisuke. Mr. Miura turned at Tai's sudden outburst in shock.

"Well... so much for the element of surprise," he muttered.

~o.O~

Officer Hida heard Tai's shout over the cell phone. "I thought they were gonna sneak in," he said questioningly to a fellow officer nearby, who merely shrugged.

~o.O~

Kari and T.K. heard Tai over the radio transmission. "Weren't they going to surprise the guy?" T.K. asked. Kari shrugged.

"Well, my brother's never been known to sneak in," she said with a grin. T.K. laughed and wrapped his arms around Kari from behind. 

"I don't blame him... I'd barge in like that if it were you in there." Kari smiled and turned in T.K.'s arms to kiss him.

~x_x~

Keisuke and Sora looked to Tai in shock as he rushed towards them. "Tai!" Sora cried happily. Tai stopped in his tracks about 5 feet from Sora and Keisuke and smiled in great relief and love for her. Keisuke suddenly withdrew his gun and pointed it down at Sora. She gasped in fear as she looked into the barrel of the pistol... every muscle in her body tensed as she whimpered in fear. Tai began forward again, but Keisuke waved the gun carelessly in Sora's face and he stopped.

"Ah-ah-ah!!" he chided, completely deranged at this point.

~*.*~

"Shouldn't we get in there and help him?" Takeshi hissed to Mr. Miura, the four of them still back in the corner. 

"No," Mr. Miura hissed back, "if we burst in, Mr. Kawamura could panic and shoot Sora or Tai." Takeshi grunted his disagreement, but stayed where he was.

~*.*~

"Don't come over here," Keisuke warned, his demented nature showing through, "or I swear to God, I'll kill her!"

"Don't swear to God, especially if you don't know Him," Tai growled. Keisuke looked confused at Tai's reply, but quickly pushed it aside. He looked down at Sora and put his finger on the trigger. 

"It was great while it lasted, but now it's time for you to say goodbye," he said. He flexed his finger slowly to pull the trigger, and Sora shut her eyes and cried out...

"WAIT!" Tai yelled. Keisuke looked up to Tai in annoyance. 

"What the hell do you want, man?" he whined. 

"Don't do it... please, don't kill her..."

"WHY the HELL NOT?" Keisuke paused and glared at Tai. "Give me one good f-ing reason why I shouldn't blow her away right now!"

"Because-" Tai began. His mind was racing. He fumbled his words as he tried to think of just one reason Sora should live. He was gesturing wildly as he sputtered out beginnings of sentences... there were so many reason why Sora should live... how could he choose just one? 

Sora turned her head as best she could and looked at him as he stammered. _Please Tai, say something before he loses his patience!_

Keisuke was growing edgy. "SO WHAT'S THE F-ING REASON!?" he roared. 

Tai froze with his arms in midair and looked in shock at Keisuke. His eyes then traveled slowly to gaze at Sora. He could see the tears collecting in her eyes. _Just say it Tai, _he told himself. Tai's expression turned to one that looked saddened, or desperate, and he dropped his arms limply at his sides. He took a deep breath, his eyes locked with Sora's...

"Because I love her."

Sora seemed surprised for the moment, but Keisuke grew very angry. "NO! You can't love her, she said she'd have sex with me if I answered the phone!!!!" he yelled, further proving how over the edge he was at the moment. He suddenly brought the gun away from Sora's face and pulled the trigger...

A loud bang sounded. Sora screamed...

Keisuke laughed maniacally...

and Tai fell backwards to the ground.

"TAI!!!" Sora screamed when she saw Tai fall. Mr. Miura stepped out from the shadows, but before he could do anything, a shot rang out from behind him and struck Keisuke in the right shoulder. The force from the shot caused Keisuke to fly off of Sora. As soon as she realized he was off she rushed to Tai's side. 

Aya and Satoru ran forward to disarm and arrest Keisuke as Mr. Miura looked to the source of the shot, surprised beyond words. He saw Takeshi standing straight, his gun steady and smoking, his face set in a look of anger and revenge. Takeshi slowly lowered his gun, a smirk appearing on his face at the same rate the gun returned to his side. "I've always been a good shot," he said. Mr. Miura chuckled and the two went to help Aya and Satoru with Keisuke.

Meanwhile, Sora knelt at Tai's side and held his head up. "Tai, oh God!" she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. Tai coughed from the force of the bullet and weakly sat up. 

"Man..." he muttered painfully, "when Mr. Miura said that would hurt, he wasn't kidding." Sora hastily unzipped Tai's jacket and lifted up his shirt, meaning to stop whatever bleeding there was, but what she found surprised her and her tears ceased. 

"Tai..." she said, confused, "I don't recall you being black." 

Tai laughed and lifted his shirt up to his neck, revealing a squashed bulled embedded in the bulletproof vest he was wearing. "So.. you're not..." Sora stammered.

"No, I'm not dead," Tai smiled. 

"Oh thank God!" Sora said, her breath rushing out of her, and she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in the hollow of his shoulder. Tai laughed quietly and returned the embrace. He stroked her hair tenderly as she hugged him as if she never wanted to let go.

"I love you Sora," he whispered to her. 

"I love you too, Tai," she whispered back, her voice thick with emotion. Tai shook his head and pulled away from Sora, gently holding her shoulders. 

"No, you don't understand..."

Sora looked quizzically at him.

"...I _love_ you." 

Sora laughed. "I know, I _love_ you too," she mimicked. Tai frowned and furiously shook his head again. He took the ring out of his pocket and thrust it in front of Sora's face. Her jaw dropped as she recognized it as the ring she had seen when jewelry shopping with Tai once. He hastily took the ring and slid it on her finger... it was a perfect fit.

"No Sora, you don't understand! I lo-mmph..."

Tai was cut off when Sora exasperatedly lunged forward and pressed her lips onto his. His eyes widened, then slowly closed as he was lost in the feeling of her lips against his. He reached up with one hand and caressed her cheek lovingly.

After they had stopped the bleeding from Keisuke's gunshot wound as best they could and handcuffed him, Mr. Miura and the others looked at Tai and Sora and smiled. "Who didn't see that coming?" Takeshi smirked.

Tai finally broke the kiss, though regrettably. "So you'll marry me?" he asked hopefully. Sora smiled through happy tears as she nodded. 

"You got me the ring, didn't you?" she laughed. Tai laughed with joy as he met her lips once again.

~^_^~

_A/N: But wait! It's not over! There's an epilogue! Go, go! On with you! R&R, I hope you guys liked this... but it's not over yet! Keep going! ^_^_

_Kari :)_


	4. EPILOGUE

Taking Back Love epilogue

Taking Back Love

by Kari

_A/N: And here's the epilogue! I hope everybody liked my most recent story! Currently I'm working on a new Taiora/Takari that's kinda sci-fi (in response to a request from TK Takaishi ^_^), kinda Christian... It has strong Christian undertones, and Amber told me it sounds like something Logan might write... so I HOPE you all like it! It's currently in the making! But back to the focus... -_-' I tend to go off track like that a lot... ^_^* This is the end, lots of reviews, please! ^_^ Until next time!_

_Kari :)_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Chapter 4:  
EPILOGUE

~^_^~

Tai and Sora sat together at the small table across from Mr. Miura and his wife, Samantha. Mr. Miura had asked Tai and Sora to join him and his wife for dinner, ironically at the same restaurant that Tai had taken Sora to for her birthday a year and a half ago. Since that time, Tai and Mr. Miura, as well as Takeshi, had kept in touch and had become great friends. Mr. Miura was almost like a second father to Tai, especially since an unexpected heart attack had taken Mr. Kamiya's life 4 months ago. Tai and Kari were devastated, and Sora and T.K., having known Mr. Kamiya very well through their significant others, were greatly affected by his passing as well. Mrs. Kamiya was holding up well, considering, and had decided not to remarry.

Kari and T.K. were still together, and right after they had finished their junior year, T.K. had proposed to Kari while they were on a special school trip to France during the summer. They planned to get married right after high school and then go to college together. 

"So when's the wedding again?" Mr. Miura asked Tai, taking a bit of his lasagna. Tai squeezed Sora's hand and looked at her as he answered.

"It's in three weeks," he replied. Mr. Miura smiled.

"Are you nervous?" Samantha asked as she picked up her glass of white wine.

"A little," Sora admitted, twirling her ring on her finger with her thumb. "But this is something I've been waiting for my whole life, with the person I've wanted my entire life, so I'm a lot more excited than scared." Tai smiled and kissed her cheek, causing her to blush. 

"I'm just excited," Tai shrugged, a grin on his face. Mr. Miura and his wife laughed. 

"If I may ask, how did you two meet?" Sora asked Mr. Miura. He sighed and looked once at his wife with a small smile as he digressed. 

"Well, when I was a senior in high school, I was sent to America as an exchange student. When I was there, I met Sam here in one of my classes. She was very interested in Japanese culture, and was even trying to learn the language on her own. Not an easy task. She got to know me because she was my tutor in English, and she asked me one day if I would tutor her in Japanese." Samantha took over at this point.

"Our lessons would go like this... he would say a word or phrase in Japanese and tell me what it meant, and I would repeat it aloud to him. During one of our tutoring sessions, he told me 'ai shiteru', and of course I had no idea what it meant. I asked him and he told me it was the most serious way to say 'I love you'. I repeated the same thing, since I felt that for him, and he kissed me. The rest is history."

Tai and Sora smiled, their hands clasped together. "That is SO sweet," Sora gushed. Mr. Miura and his wife blushed a bit.

"I suppose," Samantha laughed. "When Atsushi had to come back I came with him, since we both had graduated and I planned on coming to Japan after high school anyway." Mr. Miura gave his wife's hand a loving squeeze before returning to his dinner. Samantha suddenly stood from her seat. "If you gentlemen would excuse me, I need to use the ladies' room." Sora stood as well.

"I'll go with you, I need to go anyway." Samantha and Sora smiled at Tai and Mr. Miura before heading towards the bathroom. Mr. Miura looked at Tai and laughed. 

"Why is it that women always go to the bathroom in groups?"

Tai smirked. "Don't ask me, I'm not one of them!"

A brief silence.

"Whatever happened to Keisuke?" Tai asked suddenly, a bit of linguine still in his mouth. Mr. Miura's smile disappeared. 

"I don't know if you knew this, since you were... uh, preoccupied, but when he shot you, Takeshi shot him int he shoulder. When we arrested him, we stopped the bleeding as best we could. Once we got him to the station, a few paramedics were already there waiting for us. Apparently your sister and her boyfriend had called an ambulance when they heard you were shot. I guess they forgot you were wearing a bulletproof vest too, like all of us did. Anyway, the medical personnel tried to treat Keisuke, but not properly for whatever reason. His wound unknowingly became infected and started bleeding uncontrollably one day when he was in jail. They just couldn't stop it and he ended up bleeding to death." 

Tai's jaw dropped. "I... I can't believe it... that's terrible."

"Yes, but I can't say he didn't deserve it after what he did."

Tai looked down at his food and frowned. "I guess... but still, I think that he just wanted someone in his life. Maybe that's why he took Sora... she _IS_ the most beautiful girl in the world, after all..."

Mr. Miura chuckled. "I'd have to disagree with you on that one," he grinned. Tai laughed a bit before taking another bite of his linguine. 

"You're biased, though."

"So are you."

Both men laughed this time. 

"Well, at least it all turned out well in the end," Mr. Miura said after the laughter had died. Tai nodded in agreement, and both men returned to their food, waiting for Samantha and Sora to come back, and anticipating the rest of their lives.

"I'm invited to the wedding right?" Mr. Miura smirked.

"Of course," Tai replied, his face blank. "You haven't gotten your invite yet?"

"No... if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to tell me something..."

Tai gulped and tried to remember if he had sent Mr. Miura an invitation. He couldn't remember _not_ sending him one... he had sent one to almost everybody he knew in Odaiba. "Uh..."

"Tai?"

"I did, I did!"

Mr. Miura smiled and took a sip of his wine. "It wouldn't matter if you did or not... I'd probably crash the party anyway if I wasn't." Tai sweatdropped and gulped audibly, saying nothing. He laughed nervously before returning to his linguine. Mr. Miura looked at Tai and grinned. 

_That's my boy,_ he thought fondly.

~^_^~ 

END!

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_A/N: So whaddya think? Was it good? Was it bad? Was it terribly predictable? Was it unpredictable? How about the story itself? Good plot or no? Eh... tell me all, people! I need to know! I want to improve my writing so my stories will be that much more enjoyable to you people! Cuz I know I love a good read! ^_^* I am at your mercy, ffn readers and fellow authors! Hope you liked, review now... it doesn't take that long, promise! (Unless you're like me and you write ridiculously long reviews... but that's a lot of fun too, and it boosts people's self esteem WAY up!) Okay, enough of me... until the next story! I think it's going to be called "Spirit Sojourn"... but that could change. Probably won't, though. Matte ne, minna-san! Love you guys!_

_Kari :)_


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